01278nas a2200205   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001600055653001100071653001200082653001600094100001500110700001200125700001600137245010900153300001100262490000600273520077900279022001401058       2010                            d  c2010 Feb10aBCG Vaccine10aHumans10aleprosy10aVaccination1 aMerle CS C1 aCunha S1 aRodrigues L00aBCG vaccination and leprosy protection: review of current evidence and status of BCG in leprosy control.  a209-220 v93 a<p>The bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, initially developed to provide protection against TB, also protects against leprosy; and the magnitude of this effect varies. Previous meta-analyses did not provide a summary estimate of the efficacy due to the heterogeneity of the results. We conducted a meta-analysis of published data including recently published studies (up to June 2009) to determine the efficacy of BCG protection on leprosy and to investigate whether age at vaccination, clinical form, number of doses, type of study, the latitude of study area and year of publication influence the degree of efficacy and explain the variation. In the light of the results, we argue for more emphasis on the role of BCG vaccination in leprosy control and research.</p>  a1744-8395